We have carefully watched the activities of Jim Barbee (county manager), the Churchill County Planning Commission and the Churchill County commissioners over the past several months, and we can only conclude that Churchill County residents and homeowners should be afraid of changes being proposed in the county.
If you live near vacant or undeveloped land in the county, then you should be very afraid because your neighborhood could be the next target for “high-density urbanization.”
If you live in the county, take a look out your window and take a walk around neighborhood. Do you see an acre or two (or more) of undeveloped land in or near you? Now imagine the apartment complex that will be dropped into that space at 24 units per acre, and the traffic, noise, light pollution and crime that comes with it. Imagine the shady characters hanging out under the neon lights of the fast-food joint on the corner. When that happens, and it will with the stroke of the county commissioners’ pens very soon, you will have been urbanized. Welcome to city life, smack dab in the middle of your rural county neighborhood.
County leadership and the Planning Commission appear to be chomping at the bit to bring new high-density housing to the county, which has never been done before. Most importantly, they are actively attempting to do so with complete disregard for the welfare and quality of life of existing county residents and homeowners. The county’s overzealous desire to force-fit high-density housing, including bringing multi-story apartment buildings into single family neighborhoods, can only be described as a short-sighted and “knee-jerk” reaction to the current housing crisis, and pandering to the greedy developers requesting it.
The new growth should be sensitive to, and respect the character and culture of our existing rural neighborhoods.
New growth should not be haphazardly “spot zoned,” force-fitting it in wherever there is undeveloped property that can easily be connected to their utilities. But that is exactly what they are trying to push through on Birch Road and Casey Road. Your neighborhood might very well be next.
County leadership appears to have absolutely no concern for the context, character, or quality of life within your existing rural neighborhood, and this is exactly why you should be afraid. The county is presently rushing through a proposal to create a new zoning designation called R-3 which allows up to 24 units on a single acre in the county, as well as allowing commercial zones within those developments. We want the county to honor and enforce the current zoning in all of our established single-family neighborhoods. Churchill County has acres of undeveloped land that would serve this high-density housing need, while not infringing on established single-family neighborhoods. Until every single acre of it is developed, we should not even consider building like this within established neighborhoods.
We put the county commissioners in office to be our voice in the county. They have sworn to represent us. Silence sends them the message that we don’t care. They must hear a loud and decisive “no” from their constituents to be able to represent us accurately on these issues. You have a voice and an opinion. They need to hear it. Please attend the commissioners’ upcoming meetings, and please take five minutes to call, write or email our county commissioners.
Once this urbanization of Churchill County starts, there will be no stopping it. Please help preserve the rural way of life that we all chose and that we all cherish.
Jim and Lori Souba are Churchill County residents.
